Coming Home to Kansas

Let me just tell you we have been having the most wretched computer issues the last few weeks or so. Adware, spyware, and about a dozen lovely Trojan viruses and they are still not completely resolved. Jason fixed some of it and then had to call a computer guy, and we are still having problems but the guy won't call us back now. Luckily most of the problems seem to be somehow associated with Jason's ID on the computer so I can now use it fairly easily. :D

Anyway. I wanted to try to post on Mariah's birthday and couldn't, but I have scanned back through a few posts and glimpsed the wonderful pictures that someone (Catie I think?) posted that day. I didn't read everything but I will try to at some point. Thanks, by the way, for that SO flattering picture of me that was in that set. You know, the one where it looks like I'm falling asleep or something. At least I'm not taking a bite of food. Everyone has seen one of THOSE pictures of themselves, right? It's not flattering.

So I thought since I've been away, today would be a good day to get back here and see what everyone is doing. Lesley, I got your card and pics in the mail this week and you were right, they weren't really so bad. :D Asher STILL has never had his hair cut and so there are some curls in the back that will probably eventually have to come off.

We're having thunderstorms this morning...hurrah!! We just finished one a little while ago and I had the baby out in the rain so he could see what was making all those funny-looking round spots on the ground. He makes me think twice about almost everything now...like this morning. I wondered to myself if I had never actually stood out in rain or felt it coming down, would I know what it was or would I just think there were spots on the ground and I couldn't see across the street very well today? So I took him outside. He seemed interested.

Happy Friday, everyone!

I've been talking to social service agencies in Chicago, trying to find an internship for next fall. I had a phone interview last Friday with an intake coordinator for a south-side, inner-city psych ward in the adolescent wing. The placement sounds amazing for what I want to do: leading therapy groups, doing psycho-social assessment, family counseling, discharge planning, and some admin (learning how to deal with insurance stuff. Ok, so that's not the most interesting, but important, still).

And I harbor a secret desire to work with adolescents. I don't know if that's an area I'll be good at all in, but I figure an internship is the right place to figure that out.

Anyway, the intake coordinator said she had a few more students to interview, but would contact me one way or the other. AND, she just called me and said they want me!

I'm fairly dizzy with excitement. I am so SO thrilled (and terrified)! But also, it just feels GOOD to start nailing down things for beginning school!

We saw LeAnn and Jason and Asher over Christmas and finally got the roll of film developed. So, here they are! Personally, I think we all look pretty durn good.... ;)

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a Child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked. "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time."

~ From THE VELVETEEN RABBIT by Margery Williams




Here in my heart i am Helen;
I'm Aspasia and Hero, at least.
I'm Judith, and Jael, and Madame de Stael;
I'm Salome, moon of the East.

Here in my soul i am Sappho;
Lady Hamilton am i, as well.
In me Recamier vies with Kitty O'Shea,
With Dido, and Eve, and poor Nell.

I'm of the glamorous ladies
At whose beckoning history shook.
But you are a man, and see only my pan,
So i stay at home with a book.

~ SONG OF ONE OF THE GIRLS by Dorothy Parker





"We came to the street light on the corner, and i wondered how many times Dill had stood there hugging the fat pole, watching, waiting, hoping. I wondered how many times Jem and i had made this journey, but i entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life. Boo and I walked up the steps to the front porch. His fingers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again...."
"...Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough."

~ From TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

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All of these beautiful stories of love, humor, understanding, hope and faith... for Mariah. Happy Birthday, Kiddo. I love you and miss you.

Hey, guys, Happy Easter! I hope you are all having a good day. Eliza and Ben dyed eggs with red wine and lilac leaves last night, and we're having spanikopita and asparagus for dinner...this is my first holiday with my family in over two years. It should be a nice day. What about the rest of you?

I have some good news to add to the list: We got a house! We won't close until June, but we're really excited. I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to post any pictures until much later, after the closing. It's got a wonderful kitchen, a screened in porch, hard wood floors. And we'll have a guest room -- finally! -- so make your plans to visit us next year!

Also, (completely unrelated) I saw Nickel Creek in concert last night. They were excellent, needless to say -- **But I mainly wanted to tell Sarah that they did a hilariously great cover of Britney's "Toxic"! You would have loved it.**

Hope everyone is doing well this week!

Friday I was in Cuenca with a bunch of other volunteers and Ellie's cousin Andy, who was visiting. My friend Sarah, Andy and I decided to go up to the Mirador, which is above the city, to have a look at the panarama(by the way, it's a beautiful european style city, and if any of you would like to see it, I plan to come back in a year, so I need a travel partner). We walked back. We were getting close to the university when we heard a dull crash. We commented on it, but noises like that are common enough. So we kept on going. We came up on the Banco de Pichincha, the main bank in Ecuador. The front windows were all smashed in, and there were lots of police and armored vehicles around. We turned around, trying to decide what to do. Because of course, we wanted to see what was going on, without getting killed ourselves. Andy wanted some pictures...he was suddenly walking much faster than before. Sarah wanted a milkshake...because she's just like that. So we skirted the campus, and crossed the river and walked to a point where we could see that there was a sort of battle going on between the police and some students. Well, Andy and I did. Sarah was back getting her milkshake. She caught up to us, and we got a little closer, Andy taking pictures all the way. He even got some video. I've been to a lot of protests, but none quite like this. There were rocks being thrown and fires being started. Pretty soon my throat and nose started to tingle, and as the protest got more intense, so did the sensation.

It turned out that the protest was because a student had been killed by what sounds like a guard at the bank the day before...and of course the free trade agreement that Ecuador will be signing soon. I don't know what I think about protests like this anymore. But at least my eyes stopped watering as soon as we got a few blocks away. And what a way to end my time here.

Well, four more days in this crazy country. I can´t believe it, though I´ve been saying goodbye and making final purchases for several weeks now. But indeed, I´ll be flying into Wichita on the 11th. Wow.

Deep breath.

While all of you will be getting announcements, I know not everyone will be back in time, so I'm posting this.

WSU now hosts the commencement ceremonies live on the web. The link is www.shockervision.tv. I graduate at 7:00 central time on May 12. Now you just have to wait till the N's and can do other things during the boring parts (those that don't include me!).